This author is fond
of complexity and that forces you to pay attention. Li Heng is a city-state
protected by the Protectress and her mages. Dorin, a professional assassin is
trying to establish his “rep”. To
establish a reputation you need to assassinate someone notable or
difficult. On his journey, he meets Wu an
aspiring mage who may be insane. The two
of them end up in Li Heng where they discover a surfeit of opportunities for
wealth, knowledge, and reputation.
Esslemont provides
plenty of interesting characters such as the NightBlades, and Jaghuts that may
or may not be the offspring of higher beings.
There is an allusion to another dimension. One which seems to have had a devastating war.
For unknown reasons, Wu wants to go there or at least control the beings he
finds there. They both run afoul of Li
Heng’s criminal environment with disastrous results. The Kanese have decided to
add Li Heng to their string of conquests.
They then besieged the city and challenged the mighty sorceress, the Protectress.
Dorin has had his
humanistic side burned out by his training.
He is befriended, much to his dismay, by a healer of birds. She brings out normal human feelings that he
was unaware of having.
The book provides a
decent enough closure that you could read it as a standalone. It is the first book in a trilogy that precedes
another trilogy so their hooks aplenty to get you to buy the next book.
Due to Esslemont’s
attention to detail and the complexity of the plot, I would recommend reading
the books in order.
I recommend the book.This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned
No comments:
Post a Comment